Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Morocco Raises Alcohol Tax Revenue

Here's the conundrum. How does an Islamist government deal with the fact that the country the now govern is one that has a thriving wine, beer and spirits industry and on the other hand, alcohol is haram (forbidden). Although alcohol in Morocco is not supposed to be sold to Muslims, it is sold to them and is easily available in stores, restaurants and all major supermarkets. Now Morocco’s moderate Islamist government appears to have found a halal route that allows them to profit from its sale.

Caught between soaring prices, low economic growth forecasts, and a harsh drought, the Islamist-led government had decided that the way to deal with alcohol is to increase tax on liquor sales and thus increase state revenue. The fact that they will benefit from the sale of something haram, seems to have been conveniently forgotton

As a result, the liquor tax has been raised from 10,500 ($1,230) dirham per 100 litres (26.4 gallons) to 15,000 ($1,760) dirhams per 100 litres.

The tax on beer has been raised from 550 ($64) to 900 ($105) per 100 litre while the sales tax on cigars has been raised by 10 percent to 35 percent.

When it was in the opposition, the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) often demanded an increase on the alcohol sales tax, which unlike the tax on food products, has remained the same in 33 years.

Moroccan economist Omar al-Kattani said the PJD’s move will help the government find solutions to some budgetary problems without significantly affecting producers and distributors of alcohol products who made major profits last year.

Kattani said the move is also likely to reduce the consumption of alcohol amongst low-income people. Others say that a black market exists and low-income people will continue to enjoy alcohol.

Meanwhile, political analyst Abd el-Ali Majdoub said by this move the government had targeted the “alcohol lobbyists who have benefitted from decades-old privileges ... to make money at the expense of the people’s health.”

In 1967 King Hasan II, also known as the commander of the faithful, delegated his powers to an advisor in the royal court to sign a decree that authorizes the sale of alcohol to non-Muslims.

The king apparently did not want to be seen by his Muslims-majority people as the one who authorized the sale of something forbidden in Islam.

THE VIEW FROM FEZ ~ YOUR WINDOW INTO MOROCCO

The View from Fez aims to promote interest and understanding of life in Fez in particular and Morocco in general. The View from Fez is produced in Fez by the registered company: The View from Fez (Pat: 40461390). Our contributors are based in the Fez Medina and in other centres around Morocco. We welcome contributions from writers and photographers across the country.